respect
Table of Contents
Respect
- “Respect is avoiding opposition and rebellion. The first subtlety of this feeling is to pay homage to orders and prohibitions without the thought of punishment or reward… The second subtlety of respect is the flow of goodness into the outward (appearance and behavior), and in this case, the signs of tawhid (the Oneness and Unity of God) are preserved. Thoughts that would deceive such actions will not prevail, and there will be no unnatural attitudes that need interpretation. The third subtlety is protection from boldness, overconfidence, and overemphasizing the simple causes.”1)
- “Consider this: How could the All-Majestic One, Who causes all entities to turn toward you with their hands outstretched to help you, not know and see you? He knows you and teaches you through His Mercy that He knows you. So know Him, and reverently show that you do. Understand with conviction that Divine Mercy, existing together with Wisdom, Knowledge, Grace, and Power, subjects the universe to your service, even though you are a slight, transient, wholly feeble, powerless, and needy creature. Most certainly, such Mercy requires total and sincere gratitude as well as honest and ardent reverence. So say: In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, which expresses and interprets such feelings. Make it the means of admission to His Mercy, and an intercessor at the Court of the All-Merciful.”2)
- “The other brother, who accepts trustingly what is given and observes the law, sees and accepts reality, which for him is beautiful. Having perceived the beauty of the reality, he respects the perfection of the owner of the reality, and therefore deserves his mercy.”3)
- “… eternal beauty cannot be content with transient admirers. This is because admirers destined to perish without hope of return will find their love changed into enmity whenever they imagine their death. Such admiration and respect will lean toward contempt, for we are enemies of what we do not know and cannot reach.”4)
- “Now consider how science and materialistic philosophy describe the sun: ‘The sun is an enormous mass of burning gases. It causes the planets, which have been flung off from it, to revolve around it. It is of such-and-such size, and has such-and-such qualities.’ It gives no perfection of knowledge to the spirit, but only a terrible dread and bewilderment. It does not approach the matter as the Qur’an does. From this comparison, judge the value of the scientific and philosophical way of thinking, the former of which is outwardly splendid but inwardly hollow. So do not be fooled by the outward worth of scientific descriptions and become disrespectful toward the Qur’an’s most miraculous style.”6)
- “Respect for the elderly, pity, care and concern for children, and compassion for all human beings are requirements for all Muslims and therefore are required when following a spiritual path.”8)
- “… those who criticize the volunteers do not pay attention to their religious devotion but only see their efforts for dialogue with others from a narrow-minded perspective. However, in our time when the world is full of antagonism and weapons of mass destruction, dialogue activities centered around love, respect, compassion, and tolerance are very important.”9)
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Footnotes
1)
Zafer Erginli, Metinlerle Tasavvuf Terimleri Sözlüğü, İstanbul: Kalem Yayınevi, 2006, p. 395.
2)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, The Words, New Jersey: The Light, 2013, pp. 7–8.
3)
Ibid., p. 52.
4)
Ibid., p. 70.
5)
Ibid., p. 428.
6)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, The Letters, New Jersey: The Light, 2014, p. 221.
7)
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, The Gleams, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2013, p. 120.
8)
M. Fethullah Gülen, Emerald Hills of the Heart: Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism-1, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2011, p. 11.
9)
M. Fethullah Gülen, Endeavor for Renewal, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2015, p. 235.
respect.txt · Last modified: 2022/10/08 14:37 by Editor